This year the NFL is trying something different. Due to the pandemic, events and all social gatherings have been canceled or postponed but the NFL has decided to proceed with the 2020 draft—virtually. In addition to the virtual annual draft, the NFL is also hosting a charity Draft-A-Thon to aid six national nonprofits and honor health care workers and first responders. 

The event will be streamed on all of the NFL’s digital platforms as well as featured on ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, and ESPN Deportes throughout the entire NFL draft, from April 23-25. The first night was hosted by the NFL Network’s Rich Eisen and Deion Sanders, and featured a wide variety of athletes and celebrities including Kevin Hart, Quavo, Ninja, NFL stars like Tyrann Mathieu and Devin McCourty. The three-day virtual draft consists of managers, coaches, personnel, analysts, celebrities and influencers all participating virtually while also using the platform to raise awareness and pay tribute to front line workers. 

“You’ll find it on Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo!, NFL.com,” NFL Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility Anna Isaacson stated. “This will be a multi-person chat experience picture, like The Brady Bunch style where you are talking football but getting the Draft-A-Thon coverage and experience.” 

Funds raised will be distributed among the following six nonprofits: American Red Cross, CDC Foundation’s All of Us: Combat Coronavirus Campaign, Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund, Meals on Wheels America’s COVID-19 Response Fund, The Salvation Army and United Way’s COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund. The NFL Relief Fund has already received donations since their launch last week but they hope to maximize their efforts during the three-day draft event. 

“We know that our communities have done so much for us and sustained us for over a hundred years, so it’s our responsibility to give back when times are hard,” Isaacson stated. “While I’m proud that the NFL family so far has donated nearly $50 million to relief efforts, I know that number is going to grow. Just seeing what individual players and owners and our head coaches and clubs have done for their local communities has been unbelievable.

Donate to the NFL Draft-A-Thon here, and stream it live on NFL.com and the NFL app, NFL’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Twitch pages.